


the fool, upright

by canonlytrans



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Dark Fairy Tale Elements, F/F, Fae & Fairies, Homestuck Polyswap 2019, Magic, Minor Terezi Pyrope/Vriska Serket, Multi, Witches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-05
Updated: 2019-06-05
Packaged: 2020-04-08 12:20:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19106989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/canonlytrans/pseuds/canonlytrans
Summary: The forest is large, and filled with cobwebs - or that’s what they say, the people who go in and come back out different people.





	the fool, upright

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Quietserval](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quietserval/gifts).



> Hey, giftee! I hope you like this. I'm sorry I didn't do anything really big for it... sadly I couldn't manage to get it past my outline? But I LOVE this universe here and I kinda want to do something else with it!! So... you might see something else here!

_The forest is large, and filled with cobwebs - or that’s what they say_ , the people who go in and come back out different people. Aradia Megido’s sister is one of those: Damara went into the forest, and came back four days later, her hair to her thighs and filled with twigs and leaves. She didn’t quit speaking Japanese for a week - and her family wasn’t Japanese, they were Mexican, and nobody could ever explain it.

Aradia Megido lives right outside the woods, her house facing them. They’re dark, and in the middle of the night, she swears they call out to her, whispering like ghosts. The flowers encroach closer and closer, and she hears whispering in the wind, her name, called out into the air. There are cobwebs on her windowsill.

They avoid the salt.

This is what she tells Rose Lalonde on September 3rd, 2018: “I’m going into the forest, and I don’t think I’m ever coming back.”

So Rose Lalonde meets Aradia Megido at the edge of the forest, a day and a half later.

Aradia’s wearing a pair of jeans, a backpack resting in one hand. She looks up at her girlfriend, red-gold eyes widening when she sees Rose is there. “You came,” she says, and she smiles, even in her voice. Aradia’s voice is always smiling, even when she’s not.

“Why wouldn’t I?” she asks, throwing her own backpack over her shoulders.

“Will you stop me?” Aradia asks.

Rose laughs, her fingers reaching out to tangle through Aradia’s hair, push the curls out of her face. “What would be the point?”

Aradia laughs, and takes Rose’s hand.

  
  


_The forest is large, and filled with secrets - or that’s what they say._

Aradia and Rose trek through it, Rose using the flashlight on her phone and Aradia a battery-powered lantern. Rose’s phone is at 99%. Then it’s at 90%, in the blink of an eye, and she frowns, the flashlight flickering faintly. She doesn’t register then, but they’re on a precipice, not that they realize it.

(They won’t for a while.)

Aradia’s shoulders are held strong, her gaze unwavering as they traipse through, pushing branches out of the way as the sun sets further and further in the distance. Rose’s hair is short, kept barely past her ears, and she can feel something against the back of her neck. She pulls up the collar on her coat. It’s cold, and she’s shivering, and it’s barely September - it shouldn’t be this cold yet, but she brought a coat anyways, just in case. It’s a gift from her twin brother, who lives in Texas.

(Their mother won’t notice she’s gone for three days.)

The sun finishes it’s course across the sky, and Aradia pauses. “I think we’re in the center of the woods,” she says, looking around, her eyes wide. The trees are thick - Rose can’t see the path they came from. She can’t really see anything, just Aradia’s silhouette against the flashlight and lantern.

Then there’s a noise - a laugh - and it sounds like the feeling Rose gets from reading her tarot cards. It’s bright, beautiful, ethereal - and not something human. Rose reaches for Aradia’s hand, but grabs a tree branch instead, the bark splintering into her hands. It’s painful, and she thinks she might be bleeding, but she can’t tell.

She can’t see Aradia’s silhouette anymore.

She can’t see her girlfriend anymore.

There’s just darkness, and the trees, and no more lantern light.

  
  


_The forest is large, and filled with darkness - or that’s what they say._

Aradia is lost, hand gripping her lantern. There is only the quiet, then there’s noise: the sound of a river, bubbling, growing louder and closer. The sun is rising once she gets there, and she sits down on a rock, opens her backpack and pulls out a granola bar. She takes a bite, then spits it out - it tastes like dirt.

There is moss growing on the side of the rock, so she tries to remember what she learned growing up - all moss grows on the northern side… of trees. Right. That’s not helpful, she knows that, so she looks around, pulls out her phone.

It’s dead.

She had it charged to 100%, and didn’t touch it since.

She’s too busy digging through her backpack to hear the footsteps behind her, and then there’s a hand on her shoulder, and she gasps, turning, expecting to see Rose.

It’s not Rose.

There’s a young woman, shorter than her, with cherry-red eyes - no sclera, no pupils, just red - and wavy black hair. Her head’s tilted, and Aradia wonders if she can see with her eyes like that. Her mouth is covered in red, too, and she raises her hand to her mouth and takes a bite of a strawberry.

“Do you want some?” the woman asks, laughing as she speaks. “Of course you do - it’s the best strawberry ever.”

“It’s not strawberry season,” Aradia says.

“Maybe not in YOUR world. But it is here. C’mon, try it!”

Aradia pauses, remembers the salt on her windowsill. “You’re a faerie, aren’t you?”

“Smart girl. No wonder the woods called to you.”

“These aren’t the woods, are they? That’s why my phone’s dead.”

“Verrry smart.” The woman grins, showing off razor-sharp teeth. “I’m Terezi. Member of the Autumn Court. It’s nice to meet you, Aradia - I think you’ll fit in with us.”

“There was a girl with me,” Aradia says, frowning at her.

“Right. Rose Lalonde. Roooooooose Lalonde.” The woman - Terezi - giggles, and turns away from Aradia, who gasps - a pair of silky bat winks protrude from her shoulder blades, flittering faintly. “Rosie Posie. Hmm. I _don’t_ think she made it.”

“Where are we?”

“Take a guess. You seem to know a LOT about the fae.”

“I’m a witch,” Aradia says, quietly. “Of course I do.”

Terezi laughs again. “No wonder they called to you. We all were witches, once.”

  
  


_The forest is large, and filled with silence - or that’s what they say._

Rose is alone, and it’s quiet, and she is tired. She doesn’t know where she is, only that the trees are too thick, and she thinks she’s headed back to the roads, but she can’t tell. Her phone is at 15%. It says only two hours have passed since they left.

Her limbs are tired. She wants to lay down. She wants to find Aradia.

Then, there’s a light ahead.

Rose runs towards it and prays it’s her friend.

She weaves through the trees, her feet scraping through mud and dirty and fallen leaves, and there are sticks in her hair, and there’s nothing. There’s a light, and it’s so far away, getting farther, and she screams out, prays it stops.

And it does.

The light draws nearer, and closer.

Rose lets out a sigh of relief when she sees a silhouette, and she reaches out for Aradia’s hand, and Aradia reaches out her hand in return… then Rose grabs her hand.

It’s not Aradia’s hand.

It’s glowing.

She screams, and looks up, meeting bright green eyes. The woman before her has short, wild black hair, a crown of leaves and flowers - red, roses - circling her forehead. And she has horns, more like tree branches sticking out of her skull than anything else. Her mouth is sharp, fangs jutting out, and she smiles at Rose, pulling her closer with one hand.

“You are Rose Lalonde,” says the woman, and she laughs, sweet and bitter all at once, the noise of a goddess looking upon a mere mortal. “I’ve been waiting for you.”

She’s beautiful, Rose thinks, and when the woman leans down to press her lips to Rose’s, she lets her.

  
  


_The forest is large, and filled with laughter - or that’s what they say._

Terezi leads Aradia through the forest, her hand reached back to entwine through Aradia’s. What surprises Aradia is that she lets her. What doesn’t surprise Aradia, is how different the woods look. They’re twisted, out of tune, like taking the wrong steps in the waltz but your partner follows. She can hear music playing, and people laughing, and the sounds of bubbling streams. The further in they get, there are buildings atop the trees, with bridges leading from one to another, and houses built into the ground.

“The Autumn Court,” says Terezi, as if that explains everything. She pulls a stick out of her pocket, taps at one of the trees, and a rope ladder falls down.Terezi’s wings flutter. “Think you can keep up?”

Of course Aradia can - she starts up the rope, but when she gets there, Terezi’s already at the top, holding onto the ladder, her wings spread out. They’re huge, big enough to carry her weight. She’s laughing, and reaches one hand out.

Aradia takes it.

“Welcome to my house!” Terezi says, throwing her arms out. It’s built around the tree, and it’s beautiful. Gauzy curtains line branch-laden windows, flowers grow within the walls, which are shelves filled with books and strange, large, chromatic fish scales. “Me casa et tu casa, I think. It’s been years since I’ve been to your realm.”

“What is this place?”

“Like I said. It’s the Autumn Court. You were summoned.”

“But why?”

Terezi shrugs. “It’s your destiny, I suppose.”

  
  


_The forest is large, and filled with beauty - or that’s what they say._

“Take off your clothes,” says the goddess-woman, and Rose stares at her. The woman laughs, gesturing around her at the brick-lined walls, at the fabric scattered about. “I’m a seamstress. You deserve better clothes, my dear.”

Rose looks down at her black jeans and plain purple shirt and black coat. “These look fine.”

“Perhaps to you. But to me, there’s so much more that could be done.” The woman flicks her wrist, and measuring tape appears around Rose’s waist. “This would be easier if you’d take your coat off, at least.”

Rose obliges.

Three hours later, Rose is sitting there, in her underwear and t-shirt, watching this woman sew her a dress. Purple satin, covered in black lace, sparkling from within itself.

“You never told me your name,” Rose says.

The woman smiles. “It’s Kanaya. Kanaya Maryam.”

“What are you?”

This woman glows, and she has horns, and fangs - she can’t be human. Rose has gone through a mental list: vampire, demon, ghost, spirit. Nothing fits.

“I’m a faerie,” Kanaya says, and everything clicks into place. “One of the Summer Court. I’ve been waiting for you for a very long time, you know.”

“Why?”

“Because,” she says, and smiles, “you’re my soulmate. Can’t you feel it? We’re drawn together.”

Rose closes her eyes… and she can feel it. Something _strong_ , thick and sweet and sharp, pulling her towards _Kanaya_ , pulling her towards the woods, towards magic in the first place. “I can. But… I have a -”

“A girlfriend? I know. You _can_ have more than one soulmate, darling. I would love to meet her - if she has your heart, she’s sure to capture mine as well.”

  
  


_The forest is large, and filled with strange things - or that’s what they say._

“I want to find my girlfriend,” Aradia says, on the second day.

“Like I said, ‘dia, I don’t think she’s here!” Terezi laughs, shaking her head as she flips through the book she’s holding. She’s holding it upside down, so it’s useless. “You’ll be happy here, you know. You don’t need her.”

“She’s my _girlfriend_.”

 _I was going to ask her to marry me_.

“And I have a girlfriend too! Her name’s Vriska. She leaves the cobwebs, or so they say. I haven’t seen her in…” Terezi’s face scrunches up. “Five years? Oh, or maybe it’s been fifteen.”

“That’s a long time… how old are you?”

“Hmm. I think I’m forty? No, wait, eighty…?”

“Why haven’t you gone looking for her?”

“I have! The forest won’t bring her back to me, don’t you _understand_? They brought you to me, though. They brought me to you. We’re the same, you and I, both looking for our girlfriend. Both looking for what remains of our family. Your sister, Damara… she went missing, and she didn’t come back the same, did she?”

“How’d -”

Aradia frowns, blinking, and it hits her - Damara. Damara mentioned a girl named Terezi, when she finally settled down. Said that she was like her, but wasn’t. Wasn’t human.

Wasn’t human at all.

“Oh,” says Aradia.

Terezi laughs. “Damara didn’t belong here. But _you_ do.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because I just do, okay? You belong here. With me.” Terezi sets down her book, moves to sit down on the bed next to Aradia, takes her hands. “I’ll help you find your Rose, on one condition - you stay with me. Here. In this realm. You belong here, Aradia. And you belong with me. The woods called you here for me.”

Aradia looks her right in those cherry-red eyes.

“I know,” she says.

  
  


_The forest is large, and filled with shadows - or that’s what they say_.

Rose spends three weeks searching for Aradia before she gives up. Kanaya takes her to the Summer Court, introduces her to her sister, Porrim - and the Dolorosa, the queen of the Summer Court. Rose’s jaw drops when she sees them - they’re Kanaya’s doubles, glowing and beautiful and decked out in flowers that Rose has never even seen before.

And Rose finds she loves it here.

Finds that the Summer Court palace, sitting on the edge of a large lake, is always the right temperature. Finds that the beds are comfortable, the gardens _beautiful_. The food tastes like heaven, but Kanaya refuses to let her eat unless Kanaya gives it to her.

(“Trust me,” she says. “If you ever want to leave, you can’t eat anything but what I give you.”)

They sit on a dock, Rose’s feet in the water, kicking a little. She’s wearing a floaty violet dress, looks like a queen herself.

She’s starting to glow a little, too.

“Will we ever find her?” Rose asks, and looks over at her soulmate.

“I do not know, darling. But we _will_ try.”

And they do: they keep trying. They keep trying hard. And eventually, Kanaya wakes her up one morning with breakfast in bed, and a map off to one side. “She’s in the Autumn Court. We’ll leave first thing tomorrow.”

And they do.

The Autumn Court is darker, deep in the woods, away from the summery breezes and beautiful waters of the Summer Court. It’s built into the trees, every single building, and Kanaya dresses Rose in furs and bright colors, as if to claim her as summer.

Red and gold leaves fall towards the grass.

And then she sees her, amongst the leaves, a silhouette.

Aradia turns towards her, and there are horns growing out of her skull.

And Aradia runs towards her.

Rose charges, and they meet in the middle, Aradia’s lips crashing against hers. And Rose pulls away, laughing, the noise bubbling up and falling past her lips, and she’s crying. “You’re alive,” she says.

“So are you.”

“You’re growing horns,” she says.

“You’re glowing,” says Aradia.

And they kiss again.

Aradia pulls back after a few moments, frowning, leaning her forehead against Rose’s. “I have to stay,” she says. “I have to, because this is where I belong.”

“I know.”

“Will you stay with me?”

“Yes, but… I met someone, and -”

“I know. I did too. Her name’s -”

“Kanaya.”

“Terezi,” says Aradia, and she laughs, kissing her girlfriend again, picking her up and spinning her around. “But she’s not you. Nobody is you. You’re mine.”

“I’m yours,” says Rose, and she kisses her. “I want to meet her.”

“I want to meet this Kanaya, too.”

And they do.

  
  


_The forest is large, and filled with love - and that’s what they don’t say._

The wedding comes two summers later - Aradia and Rose walk down the aisle, holding hands, and Rose’s intertwine with Kanaya’s, and Aradia’s with Terezi’s. It’s a beautiful event, decked with lanterns and flowers and beautiful strings of golden lights. Everyone laughs. Everyone is happy.

Rose is happy.

Aradia is happy.

They hold hands through the reception, the four dancing together. Rose shows off her new wings through her backless dress, her skin glittering in the darkness. Aradia’s fangs bite through her lip, leaving a stain of golden blood down her chin.

  
  


The woods keep calling out for more.


End file.
